


A Dead Man's Party

by Nyarlathotep0307



Category: Re:ゼロから始める異世界生活 | Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dubious Morality, Eventual Redemption, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Panic Attacks, Post-Arc 4, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Re:Zero Web Novel Spoilers, Return by Death is the Authority of Pride Theory, Self-Harm, Subaru Suffering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:01:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25707850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyarlathotep0307/pseuds/Nyarlathotep0307
Summary: The last thing Subaru expected when he woke up this morning was being abducted by a small child covered in blood. Well, this can't end up any worse than anything he's already experienced......He just jinxed it, didn't he?In which Subaru is kidnapped by Ley and forced through his hardest challenge yet. (Takes place 6 months after Arc 4, which is Season 2 for anime-onlies) (Web Novel Spoilers)
Relationships: Emilia/Natsuki Subaru
Comments: 168
Kudos: 108





	1. The Gourmet of Gluttony - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is the first time I’m writing in this fandom. I guess I’ll go ahead and just say important things about what I write from the start.
> 
> I never leave stories unfinished, but updates can be a while.
> 
> Endgame pairing is Emilia x Subaru, with jabs thrown towards other pairings every now and then.
> 
> While I do try to follow canon rules and ideas most of the time, sometimes theories and headcanons need to be used in certain stories. This is especially true in Re: Zero due to its heavy use of mystery in its structure. As a result, there are several times that I’ll need to utilize theories and headcanons to fill in the blanks of the original series’ narrative. The notable one as of now is “Subaru = Pride”.
> 
> Almost every character I write falls somewhere on a moral spectrum of gray. I think things like pure evil and pure good are rare, and I usually reflect that in what I write. 
> 
> I prefer using “Ley” instead of “Lye”. I’m just more used to it. I also use "they"/"them" as the pronoun for Ley since they refer to themselves as a collective most of the time. 
> 
> Finally, I want to state that a character having sympathetic aspects does not mean that their shitty actions are justified. No matter how sympathetic a villain is, their actions are the most important judges of who they are at the end of the day.
> 
> Warning: Chapter contains psychological torture and references to child abuse. If that is upsetting to you, I understand if you do not wish to read further.

Well, this day had gone to shit for him rather quickly.

Subaru repeatedly smashed his elbow into the rock-hard body of the hooded stranger carrying him, trying to stagger him even just the tiniest bit. His attacks, however, appeared to have no effect, the child not even reacting in the slightest. 

Changing strategies, the former shut-in wriggled around in the kid's grip, trying to trip him up. The stranger simply responded by intensifying his iron hold on him, to the point where the young knight felt like his rib cage was going to shatter. He quickly gave up his attempts, and the child loosened their grip somewhat.

Out of options, Subaru resorted to his most daring strategy.

“Can you take me back to the village? I promise I won’t say anything.”

Predictably, the hooded child ignored him.

“......Please?”

The kid let out a small groan.

Well, it had been worth a try at the very least. Guess he had to fall back on his second-to-last plan: making up bullshit about the titles he didn’t really deserve.

“Listen, little guy, I don’t think you realize just who I am. I’m Natsuki Subaru, defeater of the White Whale, the knight of the royal candidate Emilia, and killer of the Archbishop of Sloth, Petelgeuse.”

For just a fraction of a second, the kid stumbled, before continuing running at speeds far faster than he had never seen from even the likes of Wilhelm. It had been just a moment, but it was all Subaru needed to see in order to convince himself that his strategy was somewhat working.

“Oh, that scared you a bit, didn’t it? I’m quite the foe as my feats have shown, so kidnapping me is more foolish than you can possibly imagine. Even if I can’t beat you though, I’m good friends with many powerful people such as Roswaal L. Mathers and the Sword Saint himself, Reinhard Van Astrea.”

The child’s speed slowed down, going from ludicrous to not much faster than an average jog. Becoming even more assured in his earlier observation, Subaru continued haughtily.

“Besides, I’m a horrible prisoner anyways. I have a reputation for being so annoying that no one can ignore me. Many people have told me I can talk someone to death. Really, you have no idea what kind of experience you’re in for. If you knew what was good for you, you would just drop me now and let me walk back to tow-”

Subaru’s voice suddenly halted as the hooded child gently sat him on the ground. 

…..holy shit, had his strategy actually worked.

Taking a moment to glance around, the knight saw that they were in a cave of some sort, the sun being visible just past the short stranger. The remnants of a campfire were only a few feet away, along with a large stockpile of food and water.

Not one to question good fortune, Subaru flew to his feet and tried to start walking around the young boy in front of him, talking rapidly in the hopes that it would confuse the kid.

“Well, thanks for the ride, but I really should be going now! Beako will be super worried if I-”

Subaru was immediately halted by the kid’s iron grip.

“Where do you think you’re going, our beloved hero ~tsu?!”

With a strength unnatural for his tiny body, the child lifted Subaru into the air and easily tossed him further into the cave. The unfortunate knight slammed into the ground with a pained grunt. He had time to only glance up as he recovered before the child touched his hand to the ground.

“Ul Dona!”

An earthen dome sprung from the ground, entrapping the both of them within its stone walls. 

The hooded child giggled.

“There, now you can’t run away from our conversation ~tsu! We have many things to talk to you about, Pride!”

Subaru groaned, instantly recognizing the nickname.

“You’re a witch cultist, aren’t you?”

The young man looked the kid up and down.

“Aren’t you a bit young to be one though?”

The child giggled softly, before peeling off his hood.

Subaru recoiled slightly, mildly disturbed at the sight before him.

The kid had long, brown hair that flowed down to his knees, the tips of which were smeared with dried blood. His most striking facial features were his emerald green eyes and hideously massive mouth, the latter of which was filled with numerous sharp fangs. With his hood now down, Subaru could see the tattered black and red cape on his back as well as the filthy blue and purple striped clothes under it.

The child was very inhuman in appearance, more so than even many of the demihumans he had met from Anastasia’s army.

His unnaturally large maw smiling widely, the child bowed to Subaru respectfully.

“We apologize for not introducing ourselves. We are the Witch Cult’s Sin Archbishop representing the Gourmet of Gluttony, Ley Batenkaitos! Please call us Ley! It is a pleasure to meet you ~tsu!”

The color from Subaru’s face drained for a moment, before a look of intense anger sprouted forth.

“Did you just say that you were Gluttony?”

Ignoring the dangerous tone in Subaru’s voice, Ley eagerly nodded his head.

“Yes, we are Gluttony, devourer of thousands! We are so excited to meet our beloved hero after so long!”

Subaru threw a swing at the child’s face, his attack being easily dodged by the small archbishop. The tiny fiend pouted.

“Why are you fighting us? We just genuinely want to talk to you ~tsu!”

The knight threw another blow at Ley, once again not even getting close to the speedy archbishop. He seemed to straight-up disappear for a millisecond whenever he tried to land a punch, moving just enough in that time frame to avoid his attack.

“SHUT UP! DIE YOU EVIL PIECE OF SCUM!”

The child looked genuinely hurt at his words, looking almost like a lost little boy as he kept dodging attacks with supernatural ease.

“That was mean! We just want to talk! We promise not to eat you, or at least, not yet!”

Subaru threw another swing but quickly switched mid-attack into a powerful roundhouse kick that slammed into the Archbishop’s body. A smile formed on his face for a moment, before it quickly morphed to a look of horror and pain as he collapsed into a sitting position, his leg throbbing in massive amounts of pain. The kid’s muscles felt like they were made out of Titanium, the mere act of hitting them full force hurting more than Subaru could’ve imagined.

Ley frowned at his actions and leaned over him

“We were trying really hard to prevent you from hurting yourself, so why did you do so anyway?! Are you feeling suicidal?! Are you insane?! If so, we are definitely willing to help you ~tsu!”

Subaru let out a growl and kicked his other leg into Ley, his ankle twisting on contact and doing no damage to the sin archbishop. For what felt like the twelve millionth time since arriving in Lugunica, the knight screamed in utter agony.

The archbishop's unnerving smile widened at his attempts to struggle.

“Your tenacity is truly quite admirable! You are just as her memories remembered you!”

A laugh of pure glee arose from the child, his blood-stained hair swaying back and forth through the air as he made several exaggerated movements.

“YES, YOU ARE TRULY FANTASTIC! REMARKABLE! PHENOMENAL! AMAZING! PERFECT! SUBSTANTIAL! AWE-INSPIRING! WONDERFUL ~TSU!”

In a flash, Ley pinned the writhing Subaru to the ground with his right hand. Without even trying, all of the knight’s movements were immediately halted, rendering him completely helpless as the archbishop loomed over him, mouth wide with glee.

“Oh yes, you would truly make an amazing meal! We can barely imagine just how delicious your names and memories would be! The taste of your fear, the extravagance of your heroism ~TSU!”

The sin archbishop let out another noise of excitement as he licked his lips.

“Oh, we can practically taste it already!”

Subaru threw another desperate punch at Ley’s face, slamming his fist into it with all the strength he could muster, only to let out a hiss of pain and recoil his hand at the agony of punching the monstrous child. The archbishop didn’t even flinch, if anything, his excitement only appeared to get more palpable.

“We want to devour you so badly!”

Ley leaned down, saliva dripping down onto Subaru’s face as he hovered above him. His emerald eyes pierced into his soul, glinting with the hunger of a starved lion. The archbishop's gaze could only be described as something out of his worst nightmares, the pure gluttonous desire to consume somehow striking more fear in him than Petelgeuse or Puck ever could.

As Gluttony drew lower, Subaru closed his eyes, preparing to activate his final trump card. He was starting to draw upon the power of his Invisible Providence when he felt a long, wet appendage drag across his face.

“Unfortunately though, we’ll have to wait.”

Subaru felt the weight of the child disappear from him, causing his eyes to shoot open in surprise. To his utter shock, the child simply walked to the other side of the earthen dome, sitting down with the same maniacal expression on his face.

Utterly confused over what had just happened, Subaru ran his hand over the area where Ley had just licked him, disgusted to see thick saliva coating his palm. With an intense fervor, he rubbed his hand against the ground, scraping off as much of the viscous liquid as possible. After cleaning off as much as he could, he turned back to Ley, still silently glaring at him with his massive smile.

The two of them sat in silence, Subaru not knowing what to say and the archbishop seemingly content with just sitting across from him. The air was thick with tension between the two of them, or at least it felt that way to the knight. It was quite difficult to tell if Ley sensed even a tiny bit of his malicious intent, as he continued to sway back and forth in place as if he did not have a worry in the world.

After several minutes of this, Subaru finally mustered the courage to speak up, applying pressure to his broken ankle with his one good arm.

“Why aren’t you eating me?”

Ley tilted his head innocently, almost appearing like a normal child for a second with his immense curiosity.

“Do you not possess the gospel, Natsuki Subaru?”

Reaching into his tattered clothes, the archbishop pulled out a familiar book with a simple black cover. He quickly opened it and flipped through the pages, stopping when he seemed to find what he was looking for.

“Pride! Convince! That is what the Gospel states!”

Ley looked back up towards him.

“So rare is it for us to receive such a clear message from the book! The future we so desperately desire will be at hand if we convince you to make it possible! You are our key!”

Subaru merely stared in confusion at the small archbishop.

“Uh, I have a gospel as well, but it’s just filled with vague and meaningless phrases. I’m honestly not sure what you’re trying to imply here.”

The child cackled heartily as if Subaru had just told a phenomenal joke.

“The Gospel is the guide to the future! It tells us what we must do to achieve the reality we wish for! If you have not realized this, our hero must be a fool! You truly know nothing, Pride!”

The aching servant of Emilia growled in displeasure, the pain in his limbs beginning to slowly fade away.

“What is this Pride nonsense you cultists keep talking about?! I know that the seat is vacant and everything, but I have no idea why the hell you’d believe it to be me.” 

Subaru gestured to his pained form.

“I don’t have any special powers, I’m incredibly weak, and I’m not exactly the most prideful person around. The idea of me being some bigshot in your little cult is ridiculous.”

That first bit had been a lie, but it’s not like Ley needed to know that.

The sin archbishop’s smile did not shift in the slightest.

“We are not idiotic, Natsuki Subaru! We can clearly smell the miasma that hangs so thickly from you! It does not compare to a mere cultist! It hangs so powerfully in the air that it feels as if it’s about to overpower our own scent! There is no mistaking it, you must be Pride!”

With how sure the kid sounded in his assertion, Subaru could instantly tell that he would not be able to dissuade his delusion. He needed to switch up his strategy.

“Ok, let’s suppose for a moment that I am Pride. Why the hell would I help you?”

Ley cocked his head, once again looking almost like a normal child.

“What do you mean?”

Subaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead channeling his fury into his voice.

“I have literally no reason to help you. If you ate Rem’s memories then you should know that we were very close. There is no way I would help the monster who ate her memories.”

Ley’s face morphed into a pout that would have been cute if he didn’t look two seconds away from eating him.

“Hm, we didn’t think of that.”

His expression suddenly lit up.

“We’ve got it, we’ll only eat you after you help me achieve my goal! That’s a pretty good offer!”

Subaru gave him a deadpan look.

“No.”

Ley tried to interject.

“But-”

“No.”

Ley pouted once again.

“What do you want then? We don’t think that you’ll think up something better than our offer though.”

Subaru snorted.

“Just kill me already, you psychotic freak. Nothing you try will convince me to help you. The idea of you being able to coerce me into assisting you is pitiful.”

Gluttony froze at his words.

“....what did you just say?”

Subaru, ignoring the dangerous tone in the archbishop’s voice, responded casually.

“I said the fact that you believed I would ever help you is pitif-”

Gluttony seemed to teleport as he smashed his fist into Subaru’s sternum, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying into the wall of the dome behind him. Subaru gasped for breath, as Ley began to walk around him, one slow and menacing step after another.

Barely able to think, Subaru looked up towards the enraged child, only to have the archbishop slam his foot into his jaw, snapping his head back hard against the wall of the dome with a sickening crack. The former steward of the Roswaal mansion fell to the ground jaw first, barely maintaining consciousness as he felt several teeth fall out of his mouth. Subaru spat out a glob of blood, noticing distantly in his head the several of his teeth had come out with it. He tried to open his jaw to question the archbishop but found that it was barely responding to his attempts to move it. For some reason, he heard a distinct ringing sound inside his head that seemed to overpower everything else.

Ley put his foot on Subaru’s head, pressing down painfully against the knight’s skull with just the right amount of force to not cause permanent injury.

“PITY US! YOU DARE TO PITY US!”

The archbishop’s voice made Subaru’s already pained ears intensify in terms of agony. It was near deafening, even if his ears hadn’t been ringing so badly.

“WE SHOULD DEVOUR YOUR MEMORIES RIGHT NOW, BEFORE STRIPPING YOUR MEAT FROM YOUR BONES AND DEVOURING THAT AS WELL!”

The hostility in his voice was a far cry from the cordial attitude the child had shown earlier. Of course, the disoriented Subaru could barely process the words as Ley’s rant continued.

“PITY IS DISGUSTING! IT IS NOT APPETIZING! IT IS GROSS! UNPALATABLE! UNAPPEALING! UNINVITING! UNSAVORY! UNPLEASANT! IT IS THE WORST OF SINS AND UNFORGIVABLE IN EVERY WAY!”  
  
With one last kick to the head, Gluttony knocked him out, Subaru only hearing one more thing before the world went black.

“Pity us again and we’ll do far worse than this.”

*****

When Subaru awoke, he felt dizzy and perplexed, not exactly sure where he was. His eyes blearily blinked open, a child peacefully sleeping on the edge of a cliff directly in front of him. Empty satchels and bags surrounded the kid blissfully resting on his side, likely having been filled with food or water of some kind.

The young knight gripped his chest, a feeling of emptiness permeating through him.

“Wh-”

Suddenly, his memories came flooding back to him, causing Subaru to shakily crawl to his feet as quickly as he could. Quickly, he moved up to touch his jaw and head, confusingly finding both perfectly fine without even the barest hints of a scar or misalignment.

Shit, what was going on? How was he completely alright? Where the hell was he? Why did he feel so hollow?

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he turned his gaze to Ley and carefully took a step back.

Gluttony stirred slightly for a moment, putting Subaru instantly on the defensive. Luckily, all he did was roll onto his back before making no more movements. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell if the movement had just been a slight change of position in his sleep or an indication of his step being heard.

Not willing to take the chance, the knight slowly surveyed the area, trying to think of what to do next. He noted that they were on a cliffside and that the practical king’s ransom of food and water from earlier was sitting only a few feet away.

This…..was not a good situation for him. Shit, this was really bad. Should he use Return by Death to get out of this?

Subaru toyed with the idea of using Invisible Providence to crush his heart for a moment before rejecting the idea.

No, the last time he had needed to reset was quite a while ago, so who knew where his checkpoint was? For all he knew, he could go all the way back in the Sanctuary. It was unlikely, but the possibility was there.

He glanced at Gluttony, once again almost mistakable for a normal child as he quietly basked in the sunlight.

Now that he was thinking more clearly, this was his best chance to learn more about the authority that ate Rem’s name and memories. If he reset now, who knew how much valuable information to save Rem he could be missing out on? If he was going to die, he’d at least like to squeeze a bit more information out of the archbishop.

Subaru winced and clutched his chest.

Besides, his experiences with the Witch of Envy had been enough for him to tell that having your heart crushed wasn’t exactly painless. He’d like to avoid it if possible.

The former truant glanced at Ley again, hesitation clear on his face.

What should he do then? He needed to get info out of the child, but he couldn’t afford to be careless around him. The kid’s authority would likely stop working after he reset, but he could very easily end up an empty husk that was unable to kill himself if Gluttony decided to eat his name and memories on a whim. Who knows how long it could take for him to die in that state? Even then death wouldn’t be a guaranteed way out of the situation. If his ability fucked with him and created a checkpoint after Ley had gorged on everything he was, he could easily be eternally trapped as a husk similar to Rem.

The archbishop suddenly sat up and began to yawn, his massive maw almost seeming to unhinge as he did so, making him look quite similar to a snake.

Making a split-second decision, Subaru fell into a sit, trying to pretend that he hadn’t just been considering escape.

Gluttony didn’t seem to notice, rubbing his eyes and slowly turning to look at him.

“Are you hungry?”

Subaru nodded slowly, a bit surprised at the return of Ley’s agreeable attitude.

“Uh, I guess?”

The child stood up and walked over to the massive pile of food and water satchels. He surveyed it for a moment and grabbed a crude wooden box far bigger than him, as well as a water pouch, before walking over to Subaru and dumping the two items in front of him. The archbishop tore the lid off the box with his hand, throwing it several yards behind him off the cliff.

Subaru tentatively set the water aside and turned his gaze back to Ley, the child currently burying his face into the box of what appeared to be strips of salted beef. The archbishop snapped up everything his mouth could reach, slurping up what must be dozens of ounces every few seconds. Within only about thirty seconds, over half of the box was completely empty.

Ley shot his head up to look at him, a particularly large strip of meat hanging out of his mouth.

“Are you going to eat anything? The food we provided is nice and tasty!”

Subaru hesitantly grabbed a few strips and started eating it slowly, continuing to observe as Gluttony was finishing off the last half of the box. 

“Should you really be eating that much?”

The sin archbishop gave him a death glare as he paused his practical inhalation of meat.

“Our hunger is unending, so this little snack does not satisfy us. Interfere with our feeding again and we will make you miserable.”

The knight held up his hands defensively.

“Hey, I was just asking.”

Ley ignored him and proceeded to finish off the box, his serpent-like tongue licking his lips when he was done. In less than a few minutes, he had eaten what couldn’t be less than a full twenty pounds of salted beef. 

The archbishop glanced over at the water satchel lying next to Subaru.

“Are you going to drink that?”

The young knight grabbed the pouch and took a large swig of the water before passing it to the child, who proceeded to drain the whole thing down. Subaru briefly wondered how he was able to drink several liters without taking a breath.

Ley lazily threw it behind him when he was done, sending it flying several dozen yards away from the cliff.

…..from the limited information he possessed, he was beginning to think that this archbishop was significantly stronger than Petelgeuse or Elsa. Hell, he could even see him being superior to Julius, Garfiel, or maybe even Wilhelm. 

The archbishop disappeared into thin air for a moment before suddenly appearing back in front of him with a fresh satchel of water. He proceeded to start drinking from it as well, seemingly apathetic to the young knight’s existence.

Subaru patiently waited for Ley to finally satiate himself, watching as he seemed to guzzle down water pouch after water pouch. When he finally appeared to be done, he turned around to the significantly reduced king’s ransom of food and muttered an inaudible word under his breath.

The practical caravan almost instantly froze over completely into one large ice block. The tiny child walked over and lifted into the air with a single hand, a sheerly absurd feat of strength that would’ve been hilarious to look at if Gluttony didn’t make it look so effortless.

Oh, so the kid could use water magic. That explained why his injuries were gone at the very least.

Casually, he walked past the stunned Subaru and disappeared into the forest for a few minutes before reappearing with a massive wagon behind him. The gigantic ice block was already fully loaded, with a significant amount of spare space still being left over to sit on.

Ley gestured to Subaru.

“Hop in.”

Subaru merely stared at the hideous child. After waiting a few moments, Gluttony let out a visceral growl at his captive.

“We weren't joking, hop in before we decide eating your memories would be more convenient.”

The captive knight quickly jumped into the front of the caravan, where he surprisingly found several pillows and blankets, many of which were stained in filth and blood.

Unfortunately, Ley didn’t seem to notice his disgust.

“Feel free to use the commodities we left in there. This is going to be a long trip.”

Subaru, still a bit unnerved at Gluttony’s benevolence and disgusted by the repulsive items in front of him nodded absent-mindedly, before trying to put one on himself for warmth. He immediately threw it back into the pile when several human teeth fell out upon it being lifted.

Assured that the blankets and pillows would likely not be comfortable to use, he turned to look back at Ley, who was currently tying the reins of the carriage to his shoulders. Subaru's expression at the sight of the archbishop turned into one of incredulity.

“You can’t seriously expect to drag this thing behind you for too long.”

Gluttony ignored him and finished tying the ropes to his shoulders. After a few seconds of testing the reigns, the young archbishop started walking casually into the forest, the wagon being pulled almost effortlessly by his unreal strength.

…..Subaru decided that he would stop doubting the incredibly powerful child.

*****

After a few hours of awkwardly staring at the archbishop’s back, Subaru finally spoke up.

“Did you do anything to me while I was asleep?”

Subaru placed his hand over his chest, noting the hollow feeling once again.

“I’ve been feeling weirdly empty since I woke up. It’s massively uncomfortable.”

Ley continued walking forward without missing a beat.

“We ate your name.”

Subaru went cold.

“Wh-what?!”

The archbishop ignored his shock, taking a moment to scratch his chin.

“We ate it while you were unconscious. It will be much simpler for us if no one interrupts this mission.”

Immediately Subaru tugged at his connection with Beako, only to find the familiar sensation gone.

“You- YOU-”

Gluttony waved dismissively.

“We’ll give it back when this is all done. Until then, we need to ensure our own safety.”

Subaru reluctantly chose to shut his mouth, not willing to fight a battle he had no chance of winning.

The young knight once again felt at the Sloth Witch Factor, considering trying to reset back to before his name was devoured. Ultimately though, he once again decided against it.

He hadn’t learned what he needed to know yet, so he couldn’t afford to die until at least then. If he reset, there was no guarantee that Gluttony would kidnap him again, especially if he tried to trap him. From what he could tell, the child had likely waited until he was alone on a grocery trip to try and capture him. Subaru could easily see him just waiting until a better opportunity, or even just leaving if he figured out that they were expecting him.

If Ley chose not to give his name back…..he would accept the consequences as no one’s fault but his own. As long as he could save Rem, he really didn’t care what happened to him.

Besides, while the thought of nobody remembering him was terrifying, he had honestly been through worse. Maybe it just hadn’t had the time to set in yet, but the horror didn’t really compare to even just the stuff from the Sanctuary.

The two fell back into an awkward silence, neither trying to speak up for several minutes before Subaru finally worked up the courage to break it again.

“So, do your parents know you're a cultist? Are they members? Is there some kind of family insurance plan?”

Ley once again didn’t turn to face him as he responded.

“We don’t have parents.”

The young knight winced.

“I….apologize for asking. Surely though, there must have been someone who raised you?”

Gluttony shook his head as he continued his even pace forward.

“Nope, we’ve looked after ourselves as far as we can remember. Don’t bother apologizing, by the way, we honestly couldn’t care less.”

Memories of his own parents popped up in Subaru’s mind, making him feel more and more uneasy. He couldn’t imagine growing up without them. How could someone just be okay with that?

“Do you know what happened to them, or at least, are you curious?”

Ley once again didn’t seem remotely bothered at his inquiries.

“The answer to both questions is no. They’re likely either lying dead in a ditch somewhere or living it up drinking beer in some fancy pub. Whether they’re alive or deceased matters nothing to us.”

Gluttony glanced behind him.

“Do you have anything more interesting to ask me? I’m bored.”

Subaru’s eyes widened at the sudden opportunity provided to him.

“How do you want to repay me if I were to help y-”

Without warning, the child slowed his pace to a crawl, turning and pulling the wagon over by the side of the road.

The former steward of the Roswaal Mansion raised an eyebrow at the interruption, before glancing at the buildings peeking above the trees not too far from their current location.

“Why are we stopping here? The next town is only a few miles away.”

Gluttony untied the ropes from his arms and shoulders, taking a second to stretch his likely sore muscles.

“You are not truly foolish enough to think that we would sleep overnight in a town, are you? Many may not know what we look like, but unnecessary risks should be avoided at all costs.”

Subaru shrugged.

“Fair point.”

Gluttony ruffled his hair, shaking what appeared to be several ticks and fleas out of it.

“There’s also something in this town we want to experience tomorrow. It’s too late to go to it today, so it’ll have to wait.”

Ley turned around and hopped into the wagon next to Subaru, sitting beside him at a distance that was too close for comfort.

After an increasingly uncomfortable few moments, the young knight tried to discreetly scoot away from the archbishop. Gluttony, however, had other plans, grabbing the far larger teen and pulling him closer with a lazy tug.

Subaru gave Ley a nervous smile. 

“Hey, uh, you’re a bit too close.”

The child responded by leaning his head against Subaru and rubbing it affectionately against him like a cat. The comparison to a feline got even stronger when the kid started to purr quietly.

…..what was happening right now? 

“Uh, Ley?”

Gluttony's gaze suddenly shot up to him, his face appearing quite innocent for someone who had likely devoured hundreds.

“Can you do that thing where you wrap your arms around a person?”

Subaru cocked his head.

“Eh?”

The archbishop wrapped his arms around him and rubbed his head against his side, his blood-smeared hair painting a streak of crimson liquid across his tracksuit.

“You know, this thing. I don’t know what it’s called.”

With an incredulous expression, the former shut-in raised an eyebrow.

“A hug?”

Ley nodded vigorously.

“Yeah, that thing. I’ve seen them in memories before, but I’ve never gotten to test one out myself.”

…...Subaru didn’t know whether he should laugh or wince at the idea of this tiny psychopath never receiving a hug in his life.

Not willing to chance the archbishop’s wrath, the young knight wrapped an arm around Gluttony. The child almost seemed to melt into him, showing a weird amount of affection for someone so horrid.

The former steward shifted uncomfortably.

“So…..about the compensation…..can we discuss that?”

After a long period of silence, the former shut-in glanced down at the archbishop, surprised to see that he was peacefully sleeping with a…..slightly cute expression on his face. Once again, if it wasn’t for the several inhuman features, it would’ve been easy to mistake him for a normal kid. He was almost adorable in a psychotic kind of way.

Blood dripped from the archbishop’s mouth, getting a rather large amount of the surprisingly sticky liquid onto his tracksuit.

…..almost.

*****

Subaru stared ahead of him with an incredibly deadpan expression.

When the archbishop had said he wanted to stop in the town for something, he had been expecting a literal massacre or some kind of fetish thing. Somehow though, this was weirder.

Merchant stands surrounded the two of them, many of their owners yelling out their wares in an attempt to attract customers. Chattering tourists walked past the two of them, talking about the food they wanted to try.

Ley tugged on his sleeves pointing to a booth selling cheese not too far away.

“Come on big bro, let’s try that one ~TSU!”

Subaru winced at the way the archbishop referred to him, glancing down at the relatively short child.

Gluttony had cleaned himself up before coming, and if he was being honest, his resemblance to a normal child when relaxed was more evident than ever. The archbishop has washed his long hair in a nearby stream until blood no longer dripped from the ends. He had then proceeded to tie it up into an incredibly long ponytail, the bundle of hair swinging behind him. He had changed into a new outfit as well, wearing a simple former steward’s outfit that looked disturbingly similar to Subaru’s own. He still wasn’t wearing shoes, but otherwise, he wouldn’t look out of place playing with Petra and the other kids in the village- 

Ley’s face seemed to split in half as he turned to smile up at Subaru, his razor-sharp fangs glistening in the sunlight.

-if his mouth didn’t make him look like a hungry beast that was about to unhinge its jaw and swallow something.

“Uh, sure! Whatever you want little b- bro!”

The knight wasn’t even close to convinced by his own sorry performance. The damn kid better give him a break, it wasn’t like he had been prepared for this at all.

The archbishop didn’t seem to mind his poor act, however, dragging him by his arm to one of the stands, excitedly jumping up and down as they waited in line.

Ley’s pure joy was uncomfortably realistic if it was an act. His emerald eyes were absolutely starstruck, and he couldn’t seem to stop moving for even a second. It was beginning to make Subaru feel a bit unsure at the idea of killing the little bastard.

The two of them finally moved up to the front, Gluttony excitedly ordering an exuberant amount of items from the increasingly happy owner.

By no means did he think this child beside him was a good person. He was a piece of scum who trampled on people’s lives to fulfill his gluttonous desires. Rem hadn’t been the first person he hurt, and she was likely going to be far from the last if he didn’t deal with him as soon as he got the information he needed. The moment he knew what to do, he would need to kill him as quickly as he possibly could.

Subaru handed a substantial amount of silver coins to the shop owner with a grimace, casually giving the stack of food to Ley. His eyes and smile made him look naively innocent as he resisted the urge to chow down the entire pile right then and there.

He couldn’t deny the fact that Gluttony’s personality was the exact opposite of what he imagined, however. His sheer naivety and lack of knowledge about social skills or human interaction were intimately familiar to someone like him.

The former shut-in’s mind flashed to the image of himself when he was not much older than Ley likely was, how he only ever really knew how to copy his dad in order to interact with others. He remembered the humiliation he faced from his peers, the sheer depression it had sent him into, the feelings of hopelessness he had felt afterward…… It was truly unfortunate that he had taken after his mother so much when it came to neurology.

Subaru shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

That was beside the point, however. Whether he liked it or not, Subaru would not consider himself someone who could take life easily. It wasn’t that he refused to kill or anything, as he had killed Petelgeuse himself with the help of a fire spirit and had advocated killing the majority of the witch cult. They had been little more than faceless monsters who had tortured him, which allowed him to get over his distaste for murder enough to end them without remorse. Killing, in general though, just wasn’t something he was exactly comfortable with. Even with his hang-ups though, he had been fully up for the idea of ending Gluttony back when he knew nothing about him. Now though…...

Subaru walked over towards Ley who was sitting against the wall of a nearby building. As he moved to flop down next to him, he noticed a peculiar poster above the child’s head. The knight’s eyes widened in surprise before a grin slowly came into existence on his face. He took a seat next to Gluttony, a plan beginning to form in the back of his mind as he continued to mentally debate with himself.

It wasn’t that he liked the kid or anything, in fact, he found him quite terrible. The little bastard had severely injured him several times, avoided most questions he had, and showed no qualms with displaying how much he reveled in his pain. He was a scummy human being, even if he was probably not much older than Petra.

Ley gorged on the food in front of him, devouring it like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. He paused only for a moment to offer his companion a piece of cheese. Subaru graciously accepted, absentmindedly nibbling at it as he continued to think.

Yet, the fact that he was now a human being in Subaru’s mind said more than enough about why this had gotten more difficult. Gluttony was no longer a faceless monster, he was a kid. An incredibly scummy, possibly psychopathic kid whom he didn’t particularly like, but a kid nonetheless. It made him too annoyingly empathetic. The idea of asphyxiating him in his sleep or snapping his neck with Invisible Providence just felt kind of uncomfortable now.

Still, he really needed to get the information out of Gluttony as soon as possible. Luckily though, he now had an idea of how he could do that…..

As the young knight felt his emotions conflict, the child beside him tugged on his sleeves. Subaru looked down at him, not very surprised to see that Ley had finished off everything.

“What is it, kid?”

Ley pointed to another stand selling some kind of wine.

“We want that one next.”

Subaru shook his head.

“No.”

Gluttony continued drooling while staring at the stand.

“Let’s not waste anot-”

Their head twisted back around in surprise.

“Wait, what?”

The knight leaned back.

“We need to discuss what I would get as compensation if I work with you.”

Ley pouted and responded in an untypically whiny voice.

“We want to eat now though! We’re so hungry that we’ll die if we don’t eat soon!”

Subaru glanced at the various discarded litter Ley had thrown on the ground.

“Somehow, I think you’ll manage.”

The former steward of the Roswaal manor smirked.

“Besides, you’ve been avoiding the topic, haven’t you? You keep dodging it whenever I bring it up.”

Ley gnashed his teeth in frustration.

“We just want to eat! You will feed us!”

Subaru closed his eyes, getting comfortable against the wall. Silently he noted that Ley had dodged the subject once again.

“No.”

Without warning, the archbishop wrapped his arms around the knight’s neck and squeezed gently on his windpipe with his bicep. From an outsider’s perspective, it probably looked like a younger brother hugging his older sibling. To Subaru though, the threat was very clear.

The child moved his mouth near Subaru’s ear, hissing to him quietly in order to ensure no one could hear him.

“Don’t forget who the one in control is here. We can kill you and everyone in this town in minutes. Do not test us.”

Subaru smirked, wrapping his own arms around Ley to keep up the illusion.

“We both know that if you did that, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the delicious treats here though. People will turn on you the moment you prove to be a threat and I doubt even you would be comfortable dealing with an entire town’s worth of people. Especially when a school filled with royal knights in training is only a few blocks away.”

Gluttony tensed up.

“How did you-”

The former steward snorted.

“Are you really going to ask me that question when signs for signing up are all over the place? Look a few feet above where you were sitting.”

Subaru felt Ley discretely inch his head away from him, glancing at the wall above them.

“Hm, how naive of us. We should’ve noted that.”

The knight’s grin only grew.

“You wouldn’t be able to clear out this town alone. All those delicious treats you desired will go untouched as you run for your life with your tail between your legs.”

Gluttony squeezed a bit harder in clear agitation.

“You would die in that scenario. It is not favorable for you.”

Subaru resisted the urge to laugh in glee at how well his on-the-fly plan was working.

“I don’t care about dying, but I know you don’t want to kill me. That would go against your precious gospel, wouldn’t it? So maybe you should stop beating around the bush and play along, huh?”

The child was silent for a long time. He was completely still, not moving in the slightest. Just as Subaru was beginning to think that his plan may have failed though, Ley let go of him and sat back down, frustration clear on his face.

“Fine, what do you want?”

Subaru, a bit surprised at how well his plan worked, immediately jumped to the point.

“Do you still have Rem’s memories and name?”

Ley nodded rapidly, his mood almost immediately shifting to one of joy.

“Yes, we possess the memories of our hero’s love, as well as her name! They are very prominent and delicious! They make us feel full of joy at the sight of you ~TSU!”

Subaru resisted the urge to growl as he continued to talk.

“How can they be given back?”

Without any fanfare at all, Ley answered the question that had been burning in his mind for nearly half a year.

“Memories and names we devour can only be returned by us. They will not come back unless we choose for them to.”

A chill ran down Subaru’s spine as the implications of the child’s words settled in.

No, he couldn’t mean-

“What if you were to die?!”

Ley didn’t seem to notice the slight panic in his voice.

“The names and memories I possessed would be forever lost, unable to be returned. They would move forward into oblivion with me.”

……

The former truant rubbed his forehead with a groan.

Well, there went the idea of using Return by Death to escape this situation as soon as he squeezed info out of Ley.

Subaru despaired, despising his horrid luck.

You had to be kidding him! Why was everything so damn difficult in this world?! Why couldn’t something just go his way for once?

After whining internally like a child to himself for far more time than necessary, a thought occurred to the knight.

Wait, this may actually be good! This was his chance! Ley had just confirmed that there was a way to save Rem! This child could solve his deepest desire in the blink of an eye! He couldn’t just let this get away from him!

Subaru once again looked back to the kid who was shaking his head back and forth to an unfamiliar rhythm.

But whatever Ley wanted couldn’t be any good for Lugunica. He couldn’t do horrendous deeds in good conscience just to save Rem, no matter how much he wanted to agree to the deal. She wouldn’t want that.

“What is the future you desire?”

Ley’s eyes sparkled with delight.

“So you agree to work with us?!”

Subaru shook his head.

“No, but I might depending on what you want.”

The archbishop's face fell.

“We would really rather keep it private until you agree to the deal. It would be unfortunate if someone were to use our desires against us.”

The knight cursed internally.

Damn, the little bastard really was smarter than he looked.

“Either tell me or the deal’s off. I don’t care what you do to me, I will not work with you.”

Ley clicked his nails together seemingly very uncomfortable.

“Do you promise not to tell?”

Subaru nodded his head.

“Yes.”

Ley scooted a bit closer to him and held out his pinky.

“Pinky promise?”

The former NEET, a bit stunned at such a childish gesture, gawk at the finger.

“Where have you heard of that before?”

The archbishop gave him a serious look.

“In Gusteko, it’s the way people make promises. The tradition is that if you break a pinky promise, you will have to have pain inflicted on you equivalent or greater than swallowing a thousand needles. It’s been a part of the culture since the great sage, Flugel, introduced it to a prince four hundred years ago.”

Not knowing how to respond, Subaru tentatively wrapped his own finger around Ley’s offered pinky.

“Sure, whatever.”

Ley took a deep breath.

“Someone close to us is trapped in a place we can access through the Augria Sand Dunes. We desire to free them.”

…...that was surprisingly innocent. If all he had to do was free someone, he’d certainly do it to save Rem.

“Free Rem’s memories and name as well as agree to let me go after I help you. If you can promise me that, I’ll work with you.”

Ley suddenly looked very ill.

“......are you sure you wouldn’t rather just be eaten afterward?”

The former NEET raised his eyebrow.

The sin archbishop of Gluttony pouted once again.

“Fine, but don’t expect us to be happy about it!”

Subaru held out his pinky.

“Pinky promise?”

Ley unhappily accepted his offered finger.

“Fine!”

The former shut-in grinned, before dropping a bag of silver coins on the child’s lap.

“Here you go!”

Gluttony cocked his head in confusion.

“Eh?”

Subaru stood up, stretching his limbs once he was on his feet.

“I have something I need to do while we’re here, so I’d like it if you could get food yourself. You don’t mind, do you?”

Realizing how disrespectful he sounded, the former shut-in immediately backed up and rephrased the question.

“I mean, I know I’m your captive and everything. Do you care if I go off on my own for a bit?”

The young knight crossed his fingers, praying under his breath that he could get this opportunity. This was his chance to stack things at least a little in his favor. If the kid naively decided to let him go, he may actually get out of this mess completely fine.

Ley considered his suggestion for a moment, before suddenly grabbing Subaru’s hand and sinking his teeth into it.

The young knight let out a hiss of pain and pulled his arm away from the kid.

“Ow! What the hell?!”

The archbishop licked his finger, getting crimson blood all over it. He raised the appendage and sniffed it, a feeling of disturbing bliss emanated from him.

“It figures that you would smell delicious, but this is beyond anything I expected ~TSU!”

A small smirk formed on the archbishop’s face.

“Now you can’t escape me no matter how far you run!”

To Subaru’s shock, Gluttony’s grin lacked any malice and looked nearly playful. It was off-putting, causing Subaru to inch the tiniest bit backward.

“Uh, ok then. So am I good to go for a few minutes?”

Ley rapidly nodded his head.

“Yes! We trust you to keep to your promise! Even if you don’t though, it won’t be hard for us to find you!”

The child peaked into the bag, before hesitantly glancing up at him and slowly opening his mouth.

“Do you want anything?”

Subaru, wanting to leave as soon as possible, didn’t even think about it as he waved him off.

“Nah, just get yourself whatever you want. I should be back in a few minutes.”

The archbishop nodded and moved to walk away. Suddenly he paused for a moment, before setting down the bag and wrapping his arms around Subaru in an oddly genuine hug. The kid rubbed his head on the chest in front of him, creeping the knight out with how much affection he was showing. 

Seriously they had known each other for a day at best, what was with this guy?

“Enjoy your feasting Pride! We shall see you soon ~TSU!”

Wait, did he seriously think he was just going to get something to eat? Was that why he was so nonchalant about this? This kid was weird as all hell.

Tentatively, the young knight patted Ley’s head.

“Uh, sure.”

Gluttony let out a small purr before releasing his hold on him, snatching up the bag of coins, and walking towards the booth he had pointed towards earlier.

…..that kid had issues.

Subaru shook himself out of his stupor and started rushing as fast as he could to find a general store, rustling the bronze coins in his pockets to make sure they were there. He felt antsy, desperate to be as fast as possible.

Come on, there had to be on-

A sign in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Jackpot!

In the span of a few minutes, nervous energy fuelling his frantic movement, Subaru bought himself a quill, some ink, and some parchment. He left the moment the confused merchant handed him back the items.

Sitting down, the knight jotted down a quick letter, putting only the necessary details onto the parchment.

Ley had eaten his name, meaning his existence had been erased from the world. That meant no one remembered him and no one was coming to save him. It was likely part of the reason he didn’t care if the former steward tried to leave. After all, any messages he tried to send would seem suspicious as hell and look like an obvious trap. Most people would simply ignore the information, something that he admitted he would do in the same position. 

Subaru signed the letter, giving his hand a moment to rest.

However, if he gave enough information for it to be impossible to ignore, the person would likely try to find him. Luckily, he knew enough secrets about one specific person that it would ensure they would at least be concerned enough to come. They wouldn’t know who he was, but they would want to at least see and possibly eliminate him if they weren’t satisfied with his explanation. As luck would have it, they were also likely powerful enough to help him against Ley as back-up if necessary.

The young knight re-read the letter, satisfied with its content.

He would rather not have to place his trust in Roswaal of all people, but really, he had next to no choice.

The former shut-in quickly asked for directions from the merchant to a messenger he could hire.

Subaru quickly stood up, about to head straight there, before a familiar screeching voice caught his attention.

…..son of a-

The young knight shoved the letter in his pocket, before rushing as quickly as he could to the source.

OhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshitOhshi-

“Scram you filthy demi-human!”

Ley was standing before the merchant selling wine he had pointed to earlier, the child’s body clearly radiating malice. 

“What did you call us, you filthy mongrel?!”

The former shut-in immediately rushing towards them.

Wait, why did he think Ley was a demi-human?

Subaru suddenly remembered the various animalistic features and tendencies Gluttony had displayed.

You know, now that he thought about it, that would’ve actually made a lot of sense. Even if he didn’t think it was true, it was quite a reasonable assumption to make.

The merchant sneered at the child in front of him.

“Don’t try to deny it, with a mouth and teeth like that, it’s clear as day! I refuse to serve one of your kind, much less one who’s likely not even old enough to buy my wares! I bet you stole that money you little snake!”

As Subaru pushed through the slowly gathering crowd, he suddenly remembered that the booth Ley had pointed to was one selling wine. 

In retrospect, maybe he should’ve paid a bit more attention when a twelve-year-old seemed interested in buying alcohol.

Gluttony’s presence radiated through the area, sending shivers down Subaru’s spine. Notably, though, no one else seemed to notice the sheer power coming off in droves from the kid.

“Ironic words coming from a merchant! Your kind is the scum of the Earth, pointless people who place prices on everything to line their own pockets! You’re nothing more than zombies who place value on humans and objects for profit!”

The young knight quickly inserted himself behind Ley, trying to de-escalate things.

“Excuse me, sir, I apologize, but there seems to be a misunderstanding here. You see, this is my younger brother-”

The merchant interrupted him.

“Stop trying to cover for this scummy little subhuman! Mind your own damn business.”

Ley growled under his breath.

“We are human. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Subaru spoke up again, desperately trying to avoid the incoming clash.

“No, you don’t understand. He really is my brother.”

The merchant sneer grew.

“So your mother was a whore who got down and dirty with a demi-human, huh?”

Subaru took a step back.

“Wait, no that’s not what I me-”

Ley smashed his hand into the stand, turning it into splinters with his incredible strength. The wine bottles on it shattered to pieces as they fell to the ground.

“QUIET YOU DIRTY IMBECILE! MERCHANTS LIKE YOU ARE NOT EVEN WORTH BEING SUSTENANCE! YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE PRINCE! EVIL! IMMORAL! WICKED! SINFUL! VILE! IGNOBLE!”

The man stepped back for a moment, clearly shocked, before his sneer returned.

“See, you’re not even trying to hide it anymore! Go ahead and do it, the knights will be here to kill your ass in minutes!”

Subaru felt despair squeeze on his heart.

“Look, let’s just both calm down here.”

The young knight looked towards Ley, giving him a pleading look that the latter either didn’t see or flat out ignored. 

“This doesn’t need to end badly. Let’s just leave. He isn’t worth the trouble. There are plenty of other things here you can buy.”

As the sin archbishop shifted his eyes to give Subaru a sharp glare, Subaru became sure he was about to lose his head. The tension in the air around them almost felt solid as they stood there silent. Then, to his utter surprise, Gluttony actually obeyed, turning around and walking towards the edge of the crowd surrounding them.

The former shut-in let out a sigh of relief, glad that he both wasn’t dead and had prevented Ley from going on a rampage. That went much better than expected.

The merchant snorted with laughter behind Subaru.

“Good riddance! Demi-human trash like him should know his place. He’s almost pitiable-”

The moment the word ‘pitiable’ left his mouth, Gluttony disappeared in front of Subaru’s eyes, causing the young knight to take a step back.

What the hell?

A large amount of liquid splattered onto his back, a sickening crunch accompanying it. The world was quiet for a moment before a gurgling noise started to ring out behind the former shut-in.

Oh. Oh no.

Subaru pivoted around on his feet, determined to just grab Ley and make a run for it, but was frozen still by the sight in front of him.

The young sin stood on what remained of the wooden stand, his jaw enclosed over the merchant’s throat, or at least, where his throat had been. As the child pulled away, a far too pleased grin on his face, the former steward of the Roswaal manor realized with revulsion that the kid had torn away everything but some of the flesh on the back of the merchant’s neck. In what seemed like slow motion, Subaru watched as the head tilted backward, and fell off the man’s body, what little remained of his neck tearing under the weight. 

The tiny archbishop swallowed the flesh he had torn off, his smile never once leaving his face.

“Thank you for the feast ~TSU!”

The crowd around Subaru instantly panicked, scattering away from him, something Ley didn’t seem to mind. The child merely continued to gloat arrogantly over the corpse in front of them.

The young knight cursed and tried to grab Gluttony. 

“DAMN IT ALL, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!”

The kid avoided his grasp. Merely leaping backward and letting him nearly stumble onto the glass surrounding the stand.

“We will do what we please. We are the ones in control he-”

Ley paused, sniffing the air, suspicion starting to form in his eyes.

“You smell like ink.”

Subaru’s heart stopped.

Gluttony had smelled his blood earlier. He had claimed that he wouldn't be able to escape no matter what he did because of that. Did that mean-

By the time the young knight had processed that thought, the sin archbishop had snatched the letter out of his pocket in a flash of incomprehensible movement. He immediately read through it, his eyes narrowing as Subaru froze before him.

Slowly, Ley raised his gaze, his emerald orbs burning with rage and several other emotions Subaru couldn’t identify.

The former shut-in opened his mouth, eager to defend himself, only for the archbishop to raise his hand in front of his face.

“We’ll deal with you later.”

Subaru felt a shock go through his body before the world once again went black.

*****

For the second time in the past two days, Subaru woke up on top of a patch of grass feeling groggy and weak. 

“Uh, what-”

The young knight’s eyes widened and he shot to his feet. 

Ohfuckohshitohfuckwhathadhedoneohshitohgodohfuc-

“Sit down.”

Subaru whipped his head around, his gaze meeting the infuriated eyes of a very pissed off Ley. The child stood only a few feet away, his presence seeming to fill the very air around him with bloodlust.

Nervous and terrified, Subaru blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

“What did you do?”

The child licked his lips, making him take notice of the blood covering them, before rambling in a rage-filled voice. 

“KNIGHTS SHOWED UP AND DARED TO THREATEN US, SO WE DID THE SAME THING WE ALWAYS DO, DEVOUR!”

Ley’s voice bordered on fanatical, his eyes nearly rolling into his head as he spread his arms out and raved.

“GLUTTONOUS EATING! GLUTTONOUS DRINKING! OUR STOMACH TREMBLES IN RAGE! WE MUST EAT! WE MUST DRINK! DEVOUR! CHOMP! CHEW! INGEST! SWALLOW! CONSUME! GLUTTONY! GLUTTONY! GLUTTONY!”

The archbishop took a moment to breathe, his body noticeably becoming less tense before he continued.

“Their names and memories were bland, but we’re sure at least one of them will please Louis!”

Showing a remarkable amount of spine, Subaru interrupted him.

“They didn’t have anything to do with this! Just return everything! Please!”

The young former steward bowed his head.

“I’m genuinely sorry for not listening to you! Just don’t take it out on them!”

Ley was silent for a millisecond before his voice came screeching back to life again with hate on a level beyond anything Subaru had ever heard before.

“Those people are on you, not us! If you didn’t want them to be eaten, you should’ve listened!”

The knight raised his head, giving the archbishop a pleading glance.

“Please, I’ll do any-”

Ley gnashed his teeth, his body language betraying the pure malice he felt.

“You think we’re idiots, don’t you Pride?!”

The former shut-in stepped back nervously at the sudden increase in aggression.

“There’s no need to be hasty-”

Gluttony ignored him, choosing instead to bare his fangs which were covered in fresh blood. Notably, bits of purple hair seemed to be stuck in the gaps between his teeth

“You think we’re just some naive child that you can go behind the back of! You think you can just betray your promise and get away unpunished! You think we wouldn’t notice!”

The archbishop threw his hands into the air, letting Subaru see that his wrist daggers were covered in just as much crimson blood as his teeth. 

“We give you kindness and this is how you repay us?! We should slaughter you! We should devour you! We should erase you!”

In a flash of movement, Ley disappeared, leaving the young knight all alone.

“But a deal is a deal even if one side doesn’t keep their promise.”

Subaru swiveled around, trying to pinpoint the archbishop’s location.

“Look, we can talk about this Ley! Just give me a chance to explain!”

A ghoulish laugh rang out from seemingly all directions.

“The time for talk is over. The time for punishment is now. There are things worse than death or erasure, and we are going to inflict a little taste of that to you.”

The young knight spoke up again, trying to get the archbishop to listen to reason.

“Look, Ley-”

Gluttony interrupted him, uncaring of what he had to say.

“Don’t worry, you should be perfectly fine physically after this. We’ll be quick about this. Just remember, you brought this punishment upon yourself!”

All was quiet for a moment, the only thing Subaru could hear was his own breathing. He was alone, surrounded by nothing but trees and grass…..

…..until a familiar voice spoke up!

“ **No matter what happens, even when it looks like you’re gonna lose, when no one else believes in you, when you don’t believe in yourself, I will believe!** ”

Subaru froze, his heart skipping a beat.

No…..he couldn’t-

When he pivoted around though, Rem stood before him. Her short blue hair, her beautiful eyes, and even her spotless maid outfit looked straight out of his memories.

The knight stepped back, his heart palpably beating in his chest as his breathing started to accelerate.

Except, it couldn’t be her. She was still an empty shell being cared for by Ram. There was no way she could be here.

When she smiled though, everything suddenly became clear. Rem’s smile was beautiful, more gorgeous than a setting sun. It lit up the world around her and was calming beyond belief.

The doppelganger’s smile threatened to split her beautiful face in half, stretching far wider than what seemed natural. Their eyes were filled with sheer spite and sadistic glee, and familiar Witch Cult daggers fresh with blood were strapped to their wrists.

Gluttony walked towards him, Subaru finding himself unable to move at their approach.

Why couldn’t he move? Why was his heart beating in his throat? Why did he feel more scared than he had ever been in his entire life?

Ley in Rem’s form stopped in front of him, staring up into his eyes for a few moments that felt like an eternity. Without warning, they reached up and placed their hand on his cheek, stroking it affectionately.

**“I love you, my precious Subaru.”**

The voice was identical, even with the mocking edge it held. No matter how hard Subaru tried to separate the person in front of him with Rem, he couldn’t seem to do it. All he could see was her, standing before him, preparing to ridicule him for his weakness.

The doppelganger grabbed the knight’s hand before moving it to their head and forcing it to make long strokes through their hair. It was soft and silky, just like hers.

**“I love it when you stroke my hair. I feel as if we can understand each other through nothing more than that contact.** ” 

Dread formed in his stomach as he recognized those words.

No, he couldn’t-

Gluttony let go of his hand and moved their mitt to his throat, rubbing it softly with fingers that could crush his windpipe at a single thought.

**“I love your voice. Just hearing you say one word makes my heart feel warmer.”**

His tongue felt dry, like sandpaper in his mouth. Sweat poured down his back in what felt like gallons. He tried to move, but he found that not even his fingers were obeying his brain.

Gluttony was mocking him….he was mocking Rem…..

Ley moved Rem’s hands to his chin, rubbing it softly as they stared into his eyes.

**“I love your eyes. Normally, they look stern, but when you're being kind to someone, I love the way they soften.”**

His body trembled, shaking so rapidly that he was sure he was going to collapse. He felt cold. Why did he feel so cold? What was going on?

They had seen him at his most vulnerable…..They knew how weak he was…..They knew what a failure he had been…….They knew the side of himself he was scared to show even to Emilia…….

The doppelganger grabbed his hands, stroking the fingers with obvious affection.

**“I love your fingers. For a boy, you have such lovely fingers. But when they clutch me, I know they are the strong, slender fingers of a man.** ” 

He felt nauseous. The world was spinning. How was he still standing? His legs weren’t responding, so how could he still be standing? Why did he feel so lifeless? 

Gluttony smirked at him once again, before rubbing their foot against his own, as if they were playing footsie with him in a banquet.

**“I love the way you walk. When we stroll together, I love the way you occasionally turn, to make sure I keep up.”**

He could hear his heart pounding. How was that possible? Why did his head burn so badly? Why did his chest feel like it was going to burst open?

He was pathetic! He was weak! He was the lowest piece of trash to ever exist!

The doppelganger stepped even closer into his personal space, far more than what could be considered comfortable.

**“I love the way you look when you sleep. You look unguarded, like an infant, and your eyelashes are on the long side.”**

Kill him. Just kill him already. This was cruel, too cruel. This was worse than Petelgeuse. This was worse than Elsa. This was worse than even the Oousagi.

He didn’t deserve happiness! He didn’t deserve anything! He didn’t even deserve the embrace of death!

Ley in Rem’s form gripped his cheeks and forced their faces close together, forcing him to look in their eyes as they stroked his cheek,

**“When I touch your cheek, you calm down…”**

Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.

Gluttony gently pressed their fingers against his lips, just as Rem had once done when they talked to each other at Flugel’s tree.

**“And when I playfully touch your lips, you don't even notice…”**

Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! 

The doppelganger moved in closer to him, pulling his face further down with one hand as they wrapped an arm around his torso.

**“And it makes my heart ache terribly.”**

KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!

Their faces were inches apart now. The smirk Ley possessed with Rem’s face made his vision go glassy.

**“I love you.”**

The Archbishop of Gluttony, moving and acting exactly Rem, forced their lips against him. The kiss tasted of fresh blood and human flesh, yet it distinctly had an after taste that reminded him of how Rem smelled…….. 

It was sickening. 

He wanted to die to escape this. He should’ve killed himself from the beginning. He should’ve crushed his own heart and ran as far away as he could. This was a mistake. This was the worst blunder he had ever made.

Without warning, Ley’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. Before Subaru could process it, he had been forced away from the doppelganger, sending him to the ground. Gluttony gripped their head for a moment, clearly confused and upset. A few seconds later, however, a noticeably more strained smile returned as they moved over to him and secured his frozen body to the ground, lying on him with Rem’s much smaller form.

**“I have one last thing to say. I hate utilizing Solar Eclipse, so I’ll make this quick.”**

The doppelganger moved their mouth close to his ear, whispering almost sensually into it.

**“Do you want to know what her last thoughts were, Pride?”**

Subaru suddenly found himself able to move once again, screaming as he slammed his fist into his precious Rem’s face over and over again.

He didn’t care that the muscles his fist slammed into were as hard as iron.

He didn’t care that Gluttony only laughed at his pitiful attempts to hurt him.

He didn’t care that the bones in his hand had been broken into splinters, bits and pieces sticking out from the skin of his mutilated appendage.

He didn’t care that he couldn’t even remember how long he had been smashing his fist into the archbishop.

All he cared about was trying to hurt Ley, even in the slightest. If he could make him suffer even a little, it would be worth it. 

He had disgraced Rem’s memory. He had mocked his weakness. He had taken the most vulnerable moment of his life and laughed at it. He had seen what he refused to show or tell anyone but Rem about.

He was unforgivable.

With a smile so wide that it almost looked like it would split Rem’s head in half, the archbishop finally answered his earlier question.

**“I pray that, when he realizes I am gone, it will send even the smallest of ripples through his heart.”**

Subaru trembled before collapsing backward, his body no longer feeling like it had the ability to move. 

Is that truly how she had felt? Did she genuinely think he didn’t care? Did Rem actually believe that she didn’t matter to him?

Tears he didn’t even notice rolled down his cheeks.

He just wanted to die. The pain of death was better than this. Something, kill him. He was too pathetic to live and didn’t have the strength to even end himself. Just kill him. 

Please.

Distantly, he heard a noise. Within only a few moments, the upside-down, from his perspective, the familiar sadistic face of Gluttony loomed over him. Though he looked noticeably troubled, his trademark grin was still on his face.

“That, my dear little Subaru, is just a taste of what I can do to you. There are things much worse than death, as I’m sure I just properly demonstrated.”

The monster moved his face closer, affectionately rubbing his forehead against Subaru’s own like a child. The knight didn’t even react, his mind too numb to even think.

“Don’t try to betray me again. You really won’t like how much worse I can make this.”

With one last look of pure glee, the archbishop wandered out of Subaru’s sight, leaving the poor knight to cry to himself all alone.

*****

Ley fell to their knees and threw up on the ground as soon as they were out of sight, desperately trying to keep themselves together.

They were Ley Batenkaitos, the Gourmet of Gluttony. Their sister and brother were Louis Arneb and Roy Alphard. They were in possession of the Authority of Gluttony. They were thirteen years old. 

They writhed on the ground, trying to not lose themselves to the name and memories they had just called upon. Already their thoughts felt corrupted and poisoned.

They were Ley Batenkaitos, the Gourmet of Gluttony. Their sister and brother were Louis Arneb and Roy Alphard. They were in possession of the Authority of Gluttony. They were thirteen years old. 

Blood poured from their gums as they gritted their teeth, their mind feeling like a patchwork of several different thoughts.

She was Rem. Her sister was Ram-

The child slammed their head into the earthen ground below them.

They were Ley Batenkaitos, the Gourmet of Gluttony. Her sister was Ram-

With a screech of agony, the kid grabbed his head, tearing at their scalp.

They were Ley Batenkaitos.

They were Ley Batenkaitos.

They were Ley Batenkaitos.

After what felt like millennia, Gluttony finally laid down, panting heavily.

Using Solar Eclipse was a mistake. They hoped that they wouldn’t have to punish Subaru again. They didn’t think their mind could handle another use.

They felt Louis poke at her connection to them, but they quickly slammed it shut, pushing her out of his mind. 

Ley panted, barely conscious as they clutched their chest.

They had already mixed their thoughts with someone else enough tonight, they didn’t need to do it again so soon.

Gluttony nearly regurgitated as they thought back on the encounter, disturbed at just how easily the name and memories had overtaken them. 

They liked Pride, they really did. The knight was entertaining in ways few people were, and was quite fun to chat with as well. He was incredibly likable. 

Ley licked their lips.

It also didn’t hurt that he smelled and tasted delicious as well.

Either way though, they knew enough about his authority to tell that the girl’s memories of affection were so strong that they were influencing their personality even while they weren’t using Solar Eclipse. Those feelings were delicious, but also quite worrying. 

They saw a bit of movement near him and snatched a rat off the ground, gorging themselves on its flesh almost immediately.

So far, the emotions had likely only influenced the small bit of amusement they had felt for Subaru into full-on platonic affection, making them see Subaru almost like an older brother despite their limited interaction. It was a natural thing they had dealt with before, the emotions and regrets of those who were devoured increasing their attachment.

Ley’s eyes flashed across the grove, his body moving at insane speeds to catch and feast on every small animal he could see in the clearing.

They had never, on the other hand, felt those emotions take over enough to briefly change their feelings before. The switch from platonic to romantic had been so sudden that they didn’t even realize it happened until their lips were on those of Pride. That was worrying.

Gluttony finished off one last rabbit, tiny strips of flesh hanging from their blood-soaked maw.

They couldn't afford to make the same mistake again. They liked Subaru platonically, and they had no desire to shift those feelings to that of romance. 

The child picked at his teeth with his sharp fingernails.

Luckily, if all went well, they wouldn’t have to deal with these issues for long. At the very least, that was a relief.

Finally having achieved the peace of mind they wanted, Ley internally chanted their mantra one last time to themselves.

They were Ley Batenkaitos, the Gourmet of Gluttony. Their sister and brother were Louis Arneb and Roy Alphard. They were in possession of the Authority of Gluttony. They were thirteen years old. 

The child licked their fingers, cleaning the blood off it with their serpent-like tongue.

Once they reached the Watchtower, they would defeat the guardian and bring Louis her empty shell. After that…..Subaru will have more than outlived his usefulness. They would have no reason to halt their hunger any longer.

Ley giggled softly.

They really did like Pride, but they had never exactly been the kind of person to let their emotions stop them from feasting. It was unfortunate that they would need to break their promise to the teen though. They didn’t like breaking agreements.

Swiveling around to go back to his captive, Gluttony shrugged their shoulders at their previous train of thought.

Eh, maybe they would give the oni girl her name and memories back at least. They were tasty, but honestly too troublesome to keep around. They’d at least be keeping half of their promise then, right? They wouldn’t feel guilty if they were at least partially honest.

With one last flourish of their cape, Ley dashed forward, excited to spend the night messing with their precious, weakling of a hero.

To their utter shock though, when they entered the clearing, Pride was standing next to the wagon. Upon closer inspection, Gluttony noticed that he was holding one of their spare daggers in his hand.

What was he-

Without warning, Subaru slashed the blade across his throat, blood spraying out from the wound at an alarming rate.

Ley all but flew to Pride’s side, almost immediately applying pressure to the wound. Blood continued to seep through their fingers though, staining their hands with the crimson liquid.

Desperately, the young archbishop activated Lunar Eclipse, drawing upon the power of a former water mage to try and close the wound. Unfortunately, it was not working fast enough, Pride’s eyes growing dimmer even as they pumped as much magic as they could into the wound.

Feeling genuine terror for the first time since he had received his authority, Gluttony screeched, before activating Solar Eclipse and transforming his body in that of the erased mage. They put everything they could into the teen beneath them, desperate to save his life. They would save him, consequences be damned!

He couldn’t die! Somehow, he was the key! This pitiful, little hero was the only one who could save Louis! He couldn’t let him pass on! He couldn’t fail one of his siblings again!

Subaru’s life faded nonetheless until eventually, his eyes had gone dark completely, leaving the sin archbishop alone with nothing other than his fear for company.

The young child curled up in on himself, his self-hatred permeating through the air. Solar Eclipse deactivated, revealing the shivering mess that was Ley.

They had failed her. They had gone too far, and now they had failed her. Just like Roy, Louis would suffer due to the consequences of his actions. She would be trapped, unhappy, and alone in that damnable hall forever.......

Tears fell from their overly large eyes, leaving wet streaks across their face as they clenched their arms until blood seeped out from in between their fingers.

This was what they were doomed to always do. All they ever managed to achieve was hurting their own allies, and destroying any connections that weren’t part of a memory. All they could do was hurt. All they could do was destroy. All they could do was feed.

They truly were the most pathetic creature in existence.

As the small archbishop cried and curled further in on himself, the short period of time before the Authority of Pride activated ended.

*****

A phantom stood before Subaru, one he was intimately familiar with. A soft, sad smile could be made out on her face.

“ _I love you._ ”

The world reset.

*****

Subaru gasped, his body shaking.

A small hand touched his shoulder, concern for him being obvious in the gesture.

“Pride?”

The young knight’s eyes widened as he slowly twisted his head around to look at the person who had just spoken. His breathing started to go out of control, fear clear in his eyes.

No. Anywhere but here. Please let his savepoint be somewhere else! Please don't make him go through this again!

Nonetheless, Subaru came face to face with Ley, a bag of coins lying in his lap and concern etched into their eyes.

The child he now realized was a monster beyond compare innocently tilted his head.

“Is something wrong, hero?”


	2. Chapter 2 Preview: The Gourmet of Gluttony Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be out soon. Until then, enjoy this brief preview.
> 
> Please be considerate and vague when talking about the newest chapters of the Web Novel. While I'm caught up, not everyone else has. You can still discuss it or ask questions to me, just be a bit vague about what happens.

The dagger hovered over the sleeping child’s neck for a moment, a wild look in Subaru’s eyes as he stood above him.

He didn’t even know if this bastard was telling the truth! Why would he tell him that in the first place now that he thought about it?! For all he knew, killing the boy would solve everything! 

An unnaturally sadistic smirk spread across Subaru’s face as his bloodshot eyes stared intently at the seemingly fragile neck of the young archbishop.

Yes, that had to be it, killing Ley would solve everything! Crusch would get her memories back and remember the respect they once held for each other! Ram would be able to remember her sister and be able to put all of this behind her! Rem, the person who was only second to Emilia and Beatrice in his heart, would be back! Everything could go back to normal!

Sweat poured down Subaru’s face as he continued to glare daggers into Gluttony, barely restrained mad giggles echoing through the air. 

All he needed to do was stab this little bastard in the neck!

Ley moved a little bit in his sleep though, his drooling face looking oddly innocent for the briefest of moments. He looked so peaceful and harmless that it......that it......that it made his resolve.......waver.

A horrified look crossed Subaru's face for a moment.

What was he doing? Was he literally about to murder a child?! This was insane! This was- This was-

_ The Rem imposter’s eyes were sadistic and radiated the amount of pleasure they took in his pain. They opened their mouth to speak- _

In one small moment, Subaru’s murderous intent reappeared. His grip tightened on the dagger as the hatred in his heart reaffirmed itself. He raised the symbol of the Witch Cult into the air, his eyes glowing madly unknown to himself as the Witch's Miasma around him increased.....

.....and without a single moment more of hesitation, he stabbed the knife downwards.

**Author's Note:**

> Before you say anything, I have no intention of making Subaru and Ley romantic. The memories from Rem influencing his emotions have enough fucked up implications to cover. Ley merely lost control of Rem’s memories and emotions during Solar Eclipse, nothing more and nothing less. It was as screwed up for them as it was for Subaru. They like him, but certainly not in that way.
> 
> This fic, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, will have Subaru as the protagonist and Ley as the villain deuteragonist. 
> 
> Ley in particular has a lot of interesting implied elements about him that will be fascinating to elaborate on, particularly the tidbits we’ve gotten of his past and the mental toll of Solar Eclipse. His understanding of the world and morality is little more than that of a child, which he is quite explicitly stated to be. He is a scummy and spiteful blood knight who has no desire or reason to change. As of now, he likes Subaru due to some influence from Rem’s memories but is apathetic to the world at large outside of him, Louis, and Roy. He is, at the current point, one of the most sadistic villains in-universe, but that doesn’t mean he lacks the capacity to change or reform, even if just a little bit. He is still a child after all (13-14ish according to most estimates I’ve seen), and children are quite impressionable even at that age. Sometimes, all that’s needed is a terrible situation to scare someone into wanting to reform……
> 
> The other archbishops will be appearing soon enough. As for some hints on what they’ll be doing, let’s just say that Ley isn’t the only one who got interesting new information from his Gospel.
> 
> I just want to note that I don’t think a lot of people realize just how durable and strong Ley is. The dude has tanked attacks from Julius, Rem, Ram, and Emilia. To remind everyone, Rem was able to inflict significant damage to the White Whale with her blows, as well as change it’s trajectory entirely. Julius is also stated to be superior to her physically. Despite that, Julius has yet to inflict any real damage to Ley in any web novel chapters I could find and Ley walked away with only a single scar from a fight with Rem (as far as I can tell, Regulus did not interfere in the novels as he did in the anime by the way).
> 
> It is notable that Emilia knocked him out once with a blow to the head using an ice hammer, but Emilia has been noted to be significantly stronger than the average human and landed it directly to the head while he was unprepared. Really, the only significant damage he has taken was being ragdolled around by a certain red-haired character (don’t want to spoil his name just in case) in Arc 6. Ley survived being smacked around by him before having his body forced against a coarse, icy wall and dragged against it at speeds that were “incomprehensible”. Still, even after all of that, he was able to get up only a few moments later and rejoin the fight “as if he had not suffered any damage whatsoever.” (Arc 6 Chapter 65 - Web novel)
> 
> He has also been shown to be strong enough to deflect Rem’s attacks and is somewhat comparable to Wilhelm when it comes to pure physical strength. To top everything off, he has outsped several characters who are confirmed to be able to move at supersonic speeds or higher (according to the novels) and is stated to be one of the most skillful characters in Re: Zero.
> 
> My point is, Ley is fucking OP. With the exception of Regulus, and possibly Capella, he really stands out as the overall most powerful member of the Archbishops. 
> 
> I would appreciate feedback if anyone has any. If you noticed any mistakes, I would also appreciate it if you could point it out to me.
> 
> Have a fantastic day everyone!
> 
> Since I have received questions about it, Ley is canonically nowhere near as old as the other archbishops and heavily implied to be around 13-15. The seat of Gluttony was vacant for "a long time" according to the author, and Petelgeuse, Sirius, and Regulus are mentioned to be the only real old members of the archbishops. Since Petelgeuse and Sirius only became archbishops about 100ish years ago in canon, that means that Ley is at the very least less than 100. Canon also seems to heavily imply that he and his siblings are actual children not much older than Petra, to the point where it has been commented on several times in-universe. Louis also heavily implies the same thing during Arc 6, suggesting that the authority of Gluttony was granted to the siblings rather recently in the grand scheme of things, perhaps only a few years ago. The author has also stated directly that Gluttony was vacant until recently in Q&A's, further supporting this viewpoint.
> 
> Point is, all evidence seems to point towards Ley being not much older than Petra, so around 13-15.
> 
> Next Time- Chapter 2: The Gourmet of Gluttony Part 2.


End file.
